Brazil and Sri Lanka Bolstering Military Relations

Chief of Staff of the Brazilian Army, General Joaquim Silva E Luna called on the Secretary Defence and Urban Development Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa today (24th September) at the Ministry premises.

The visiting Brazilian delegation led by General Joaquim arrived to Sri Lanka on Saturday 22nd September and is comprised of high ranking officials of the Brazilian Military. The members of the delegation were also present at the occasion.

A cordial discussion was held between General Luna and Secretary Defence on matters of bilateral relevance and mutual interests. Mementoes were exchanged between the two officials to mark the occasion.

India dismisses reports about its missiles targeting Sri Lankan sites

India on Thursday dismissed reports that its missiles targeted strategic Sri Lankan locations, calling them "completely baseless and fabricated."

In a statement, the Indian high commission here said that India has a longstanding indigenous missile development programme, which is defensive in nature and not directed against any country.

"Speculation on such sensitive issues in a manner calculated to mislead, is out of tune with the spirit of the friendly and close relations India and Sri Lanka enjoy, including in the fields of defence and security," it said.

The statement, which dismissed these reports as "completely baseless and fabricated", came as Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa expressed his satisfaction over his personal meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi last week.

"The visit was successful. It helped in further strengthening of our long and historical relations with India as our closest neighbour," Rajapaksa said during his monthly interaction with media.

Rajapaksa visited Madhya Pradesh on September 19 to lay the foundation stone for a Buddhist University in Sanchi and met Singh in Delhi.

Sri Lankans stage anti-India protests after attacks

Scores of Sri Lankan protesters demonstrated in the capital Colombo on Thursday against attacks on pilgrims visiting the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
An organisation of Tamil businessmen marched to the Indian High Commission (embassy) to hand over a petition condemning recent attacks on Sri Lankans, including buses being stoned by Indian mobs.
“Stop harassing our pilgrims,” the protesters chanted, demanding better protection for Sri Lankans, some of whom were visiting India to pray at Christian shrines.
Earlier this week, Sri Lanka warned its citizens against visiting Tamil Nadu after a string of assaults and the expulsion of two school football teams visiting the state for friendly games.

Sri Lanka, China Seek to Strengthen Military Ties

Sri Lanka and China have sought to strengthen their military ties, the Sri Lankan defense ministry said on Friday, according to Xinhua.

The remarks followed a meeting between Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie and Secretary to the Sri Lankan Ministry of Defense Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

During the meeting, Liang said the political trust between the two countries has deepened with the rapid expansion of exchanges and cooperation in various fields.

Liang expressed the hope that the two sides would continue to work hard to maintain the close and friendly relations and strengthen exchanges and cooperation in the field of non- traditional security and improve the ability to respond to crisis together, so as contribute to regional peace, stability and development.

Sri Lankan Secretary Defence Visits the Republic of Sudan

The Secretary of Defence and Urban Development Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa was in the Republic of Sudan on an official visit from 26th to 30th August 2012. During the visit the Secretary of Defence visited a number of important institutions and military installations.

The Secretary of Defence met with the Defence Minister of Sudan, H E Abdul Rahim Mohamed Hussain, Secretary General of Defence H E General Abdul Rahaman Mohamed Zain, Deputy Chief of Staff of Army General Emad Adawi and Chief of Joint Staff H E General Ismat Abdul Rahman. The meetings were centered on further consolidating and enhancing the existing ties and bilateral relations between the two countries.

The Secretary of Defence also visited the prestigious Military Joint Command and Staff College, Higher Military Academy, Military College and the Engineering Faculty of Karary University. The heads of these institutes highly appreciated the visits to their institutes by the Secretary of Defence and expressed their desire to enhance the cooperation between Sudanese and Sri Lankan military training institutes in order to share expertise and knowledge.

Sri Lankan President Meets with Chinese Minister of National Defense

Mahinda Rajapaksa, president of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, met with Liang Guanglie, state councilor and minister of national defense of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), on August 29, 2012 in Colombo, capital of Sri Lanka, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

Rajapaksa expressed that the traditional friendship between Sri Lanka and China enjoys a time-honored history. The Sri Lankan people are sincerely grateful to the Chinese side for its long-term firm support to Sri Lanka in politics, economy and culture, etc. The two sides have been understanding and supporting each other and constantly deepening mutually beneficial cooperation for years, have achieved fruitful results in various fields and made positive contributions to regional peace, stability and development.

Rajapaksa also noted that in the new historical period, the Sri Lankan side will continue to unswervingly adhere to the one-China policy, and is willing to make joint efforts with the Chinese side to further promote the pragmatic cooperation, including the cooperation in military field, and constantly promote the bilateral relations to a new high.

Chinese Defense Chief to Visit Sri Lanka, India and Laos

At the invitation of the defense department leaders of Sri Lanka, India and Laos, Liang Guanglie, state councilor and minister of national defense of the People’s Republic of China?departed from Beijing today to pay an official goodwill visit to these three countries.

The main members of Liang Guanglie's entourage include Zhou Laiqiang, deputy commander of the Air Force of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), Huang Hanbiao, deputy commander of the PLA Beijing Military Area Command, Song Puxuan, deputy commander of the PLA Nanjing Military Area Command, Wang Dengping, deputy political

India's missiles targeted Sri Lanka's strategic institutions - report

India, it was reported stationed long range Agni type Missile system targeting Sri Lanka’s strategic institutions. Among these strategic institutions are, Colombo and Hambanthota Ports, Katunayaka, Ratmalana and Mattala Air Ports, Military Headquarters, Putlam Coal plant and Kerawalapitiya-Kelanithissa oil fired Power Plants etc. Indian Defense Authorities launched an Integrated Guided Missile Program (IGMOP) for the Research and Development of comprehensive range of missiles, which is managed by the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO). They have now developed Nuke capable Agni I – VI (capable of carrying 1000-2000kg war heads within a range of 1000 – 8000km) which can target any military or any other installation in South Asia including Sri Lanka.
India and the US joined in secret to cut off China’s su

Military lingers in Tamil areas years after Sri Lanka's civil war

The war in Sri Lanka is over, but the military still occupies Tamil areas with a heavy hand. Residents say they still live in fear of security forces, and in fear of speaking out.

 Every bus traveling north has to stop at the military checkpoint just after Vavuniya. Only men disembark. They know the drill.

Without being asked, they form two orderly columns, present their IDs, spread their legs for a pat-down, and open their bags for soldiers to rifle through. Some field questions about why they are headed toward the territory once controlled by the separatist Liberation Tigers for Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
Alternatively heralded as freedom fighters and decried as terrorists, the LTTE fought a 26-year war for Tamil independence against a majority-Sinhalese national government. Three years after the national Army defeated the LTTE in a 2009 offensive that left 40,000 civilians dead, military camps still mark the landscape in the predominantly Tamil north. The Sinhalese-controlled government justifies the militarization by citing national security concerns.
“When you’ve lived under terrorism for 30 years, you’re going to take precautions,” says Malinda Seneviratne, the editor in chief of The Nation, a weekly English newspaper in Sri Lanka.
But many Tamil civilians worry that the increased security is a cover to exert control over the Tamil minority. It’s a claim that, if true, could signal a return to the state-sponsored discrimination that led to war in the first place.

Sri Lanka eyes on Mi-17 helicopters ~ Asian Defence

Sri Lanka is conducting a feasibility study into the purchase of Mi-17 helicopters from Russia for use by the air force in its commercial venture.

The aircraft would be purchased under a $300 million credit line with Russia's state-owned arms trading business Rosoboronexport State Corp., a report by Sri Lanka's Sunday Leader newspaper said.

Cabinet spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said up to 14 helicopters could be purchased but nothing would be decided until conclusion of the feasibility study.

Sri Lanka initially agreed to purchase up to 14 helicopters because of requirements during the war with the separatist Tamil Tigers.

"Since the war was coming to an end, we decided there was no immediate requirement to purchase 14 helicopters," he is quoted as saying by the Sunday Leader.

"I do not know when the study will be completed but I don't think the air force would utilize the entire facility and purchase 14 helicopters."

Sri Lanka Might Lose The Peace Dividend

Three years ago when the war was over in Sri Lanka and the LTTE was defeated, this writer had observed in a discussion with a Sri Lankan diplomat that winning the war was the relatively easy part; the more difficult part – of reconciliation and winning the peace had now begun. If this was not done well and quickly enough, the situation could deteriorate just as easily and may be even worse with repercussions beyond Sri Lanka. Fears in New Delhi are precisely these.
Today, the Tamil-populated Northern Province remains the most militarised and does not have an elected provincial council. The political process has not really begun. It is true that this is an internal political process, but as a neighbour, India would want to remain interested to ensure early reconciliation.
There are several opposing interests at work, Chennai against New Delhi, Colombo versus the Northern Province, Sinhala versus Tamils, Colombo versus the Tamil diaspora and Colombo suspicious of New Delhi. There are anxieties in New Delhi too that the pace that Colombo has adopted in reconciling is painfully slow and there is not enough desire to speed this or act in a manner that would bring satisfaction to the Tamils.
The recent shifting of the Sri Lanka Air Force technical personnel on training at Tambaram, Chennai to Bengaluru at the insistence of the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa was a result of her confrontation with her rival, M Karunanidhi the DMK leader. The AIADMK leader has also demanded that India should insist that Sri Lanka hold a referendum for the creation of Tamil Eelam. This is in direct conflict with the

SIS - State Intelligence Service (Sri Lanka)

 SIS - (State Intelligence Service) is an intelligence agency of the Sri Lankan government. It is tasked with both internal and external intelligence. It comes directly under the Ministry of Defence.
Its primary function is collection of internal and external intelligence, counter-terrorism and covert operations. In addition, it is responsible for obtaining and analyzing information about foreign governments, corporations and persons in order to advise Sri Lankan foreign policymakers.

The SIS has its headquarters in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Objectives:
The present SIS objectives also include:
Safeguard Sri Lankan interests and national security inside and outside the country.
Monitor the political and military developments in adjoining countries, which have direct bearing on Sri Lanka's national security and in the formulation of its foreign policy and to collect foreign and domestic intelligence in such cases.
Co-ordination of intelligence functions of the three military services.
Moulding international public opinion with the help of the strong and vibrant Sri Lankan diaspora.

  SIS - (State Intelligence Service) was formally known as the National Intelligence Bureau.

 Directorate of Foreign Intelligence & the Directorate of Internal Intelligence.

Until 1984, the Sri Lanka Police were responsible for internal intelligence functions, first under the Special Branch, and later under the Intelligence Services Division. The perceived failure of the Intelligence Services Division during the riots of July 1983 led the J.R. Jayawardene Government to re-evaluate the nation's intelligence network, and in 1984 the President set up a National Intelligence Bureau. The new organization combined intelligence units from the Army, Navy, Air force, and Police. It has been since renamed the State Intelligence Service in 2006.

Growing Hostility In Sri Lanka: India’s New Challenge

There is ample evidence that New Delhi’s ambitions of becoming a global power has met with fresh challenges in its neighbourhood. In recent times, Sri Lanka has radiated unnerving resentment at India’s attempts to secure the rights of the Tamil civilian population, victims of the Eelam war that vanquished the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
At one level, New Delhi is building pressure on Colombo not to take the bilateral relations for granted. National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon reportedly conveyed this during his June 29 trip to the country. Apart from being an influential neighbour, India is also the member of United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC)’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) troika, which is scheduled to take up Colombo’s human rights compliance record in November. So Colombo is obligated not to displease New Delhi, which has already voted against it in the UNHRC in March 2012.

India – Sri Lanka Relations

At the other level, India’s pressure diplomacy is on a weak footing. For the Mahinda Rajpaksa government, victory in the Eelam war that ended three years ago remains its only achievement. Even as the economic condition of the country has worsened and governance capacities weakened, official effort at projecting the President as a saviour of Sinhalas has continued.
Apparently, such a project runs counter to India’s push for the implementation of the 13th Amendment and the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) and elections for the provincial councils. Not surprisingly, the Rajapaksa government has not moved beyond its ‘commitment’ to the above demands. Issues like the resettlement of the internally displaced population and a genuine reconciliation programme have progressed at an unacceptable pace.
Add to this, India’s own aid programmes in the past two years in Sri Lanka— $50 million under lines of credit and another $350 million under grants-in-aid — has not impressed the Tamils as well. They allege that whereas Colombo has vigorously pursued a programme of land grabbing and settling Sinhala civilians and the army in what used to be Tamil territories, the Indian projects such as building houses for displaced Tamils have progressed lethargically.
Quite apparently, the Indian ‘pressure tactic’ is loathed by the Sinhalas, if the July 9 editorial of the Sunday Times newspaper is any indication. “The Government seems to have got trapped in a comment the President made to India that he would implement the 13th Amendment and even go further (13 plus). He said this initially to get Indian support to defeat the LTTE on the battlefield. Now, the Indians, like the dog with the bone, will not let go,” the editorial read. It went on to allege that “India would like to have an elected” Northern Provincial Council as “an ideal satellite province on Sri Lankan soil—‘an unsinkable aircraft carrier’ on India’s southern border.”
New Delhi has obvious reasons to worry. There has not been an opinion poll reflecting India’s image in Sri Lanka. But the reaction one gathers from the letters written to the editors of different newspapers and websites, the image isn’t much different from what the people of Pakistan think of the Americans—both among the Sinhalas and the Tamils.
In Sri Lanka, India’s problem is unique in terms of finding an effective vehicle for implementation of its projects for the Tamils. While the ruling regime’s negative approach to the reconciliation and rehabilitation process is quite clear, the mainstream opposition too does not provide an alternative. Take the case of former army chief Sarath Fonseka. After being released from prison, he has assumed the role of an opposition figurehead and has called for an Arab Spring in Sri Lanka to oust the Rajapaksa regime. Fonseka’s denial of human rights violations during the Eelam war is more virulent than the Rajpakasa regime. He, in fact, accuses the government of not having forcefully conveyed this to the international community.
Within days of Menon’s return from Colombo, President Rajapaksa gathered the Sri Lankan diplomats in a workshop. Referring to the “changing functions of diplomacy” in view of the campaign by pro-LTTE diaspora in the West, the President called upon the diplomats to have a “readiness, willingness and capability” to “persuade others about the needs of Sri Lanka”. The message of “no change” Colombo is trying to deliver to the world is obvious.
For New Delhi, there can be no alternative to a policy of sustained engagement with the Rajapaksa regime. Appointment of a special envoy on Sri Lanka is not a bad idea for the Prime Minister’s Office to consider.

Sri Lanka Army to Hold Major Defence Seminar

The Sri Lankan army is to hold a major defence seminar with the participation of representatives from more than 63 countries, the army said in a statement on Thursday.

The three-day defence seminar is held with a view to sharing and discussing post-conflict experiences on the road to recovery and reconciliatory moves, designed for long-lasting peace and stability, Army Commander Lieutenant General Jagath Jayasuriya said in the statement.

"The army as directed by the government have thrown our full weight behind the country's post-conflict recovery machine and infrastructure development tasks and roles. It has been amply proved that our commitment for any development project could perform comparatively much faster and more effective than any other civil organization could do," said Jayasuriya.

The Sri Lankan army successfully defeated the Tamil Tiger rebels three years ago after 30 years of fighting in which thousands were killed.

The defence seminar which will be held next month will also focus reconstruction, resettlement, rehabilitation, reintegration and reconciliation in post-conflict Sri Lanka, Jayasuriya said.

The army chief said that so far the United States, Britain, China and many others have confirmed their participation in the session.

The Sri Lankan army conducted its first post war defence seminar last year with the participation of over 94 delegates from 41 countries.

The day when Chinese made Sri Lankan Air Force's F7/J-7 / F-7 Airguard aircraft failed to lock on

Tuesday’s failure to shoot down a single LTTE aircraft despite timely detection by radar has jolted the SLAF into investigating its limitations amidst evidence that the enemy has acquired a capability to neutralise the threat of a heat seeking missile attack.

An authoritative source said that Chinese F7s launched from Katunayake air base had failed to zero-in-on the enemy aircraft. "Their (F7s) missile systems failed to ‘lock on with the enemy aircraft," the source said. This would necessitate an overall review of the SLAF’s strategy, the source said. The military asserted that the LTTE could try to exploit the situation.

The initial detection had been made north-east of Mannar at 10.18 p.m. by 2D radar installed by the Government of India at the SLAF base at Vavuniya.

Thaladdi had come under attack within minutes after the detection, the source said.

Both the Indian radar and a Chinese 3D radar station located in the Western Province had detected the enemy aircraft but interceptors failed to carry out a successful missile strike. 2D radar provides direction and the distance of a target whereas the Chinese radar provides even the altitude of a target.

Sri Lanka Air Force F-7BS fighter--photoed by Rogier Westerhuis

Srilanka SLNS Prathapa (P 340)

in 1988, the Dvora Class Patrol Boats joined the growing Israel Navy fleet. While the ship was constructed according to the Dabur Class Patrol Boat design, its two meters longer and much quicker in speed. The troops serving in the Dvora boats are imbued with a spirit of comradeship, pride and high levels of motivation.

                                                                

Sri Lanka to export weapons & military products

The Sri Lanka Army is to offer for sale to foreign countries some of the military hardware which it has developed based on its experience gained in fighting the Tiger guerrillas, Army Commander Jagath Jayasuriya said. He said items for offer included a mini-UAV developed by the Army. This could be used for monitoring of security at public events or meetings.

Lt. Gen. Jayasuriya said the army had also developed bullet-proof jackets, additional security features in bullet-proof vehicles and weapons which had been modified. He said years of experience gained in fighting the Tiger guerrillas had been made use of by the army after the completion of the military operations against the LTTE to develop these weapons and equipment.

The Army Chief said these items would be on display for the invitees who would be here for the international seminar organized by the Army from May 31 to June 2 where the Army hoped to share its experience gained in defeating the LTTE.

Besides the Army, the Navy and the Air Force will also be putting on exhibition certain items which they have developed after the conclusion of the military operations and would be available for sale.

Navy Spokesman Athula Senarath said they had developed a Small Attack craft which could be used in security operations. He said the Wave Rider inshore Patrol Craft and another craft known as the Arrow Craft were other inventions of the Navy.

Weapons fitted to Dvora craft had also been invented by the Navy. Meanwhile, the Air Force is expected to announce details about its developments during its 60th anniversary celebrations in March.